주인공

Jeju

Etymology

From Japanese 主人公 (shujinkō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ɕuinɡo̞ŋ/

Noun

주인공 (ju'in'gong)

1. protagonist, leading character, hero, heroine

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 主人公, from 主 (“chief”) + 人 (“person”) + 公 (“fair”), an orthographic borrowing from Japanese 主人公(しゅじんこう) (shujinkō), from Middle Chinese 主人公 (tsyu^X nyin kuwng).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕuinɡo̞ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [주인공]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	ju'in'gong
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	ju'ingong
McCune–Reischauer?	chuin'gong
Yale Romanization?	cwuinkong

Noun

주인공 • (ju'in'gong) (hanja 主人公)

1. (theater, literature) protagonist, leading character, hero, heroine

   주인공이 되면 인생이 피곤해진다.

   ju'in'gong'i doemyeon insaeng'i pigonhaejinda.

   Life gets tired when you become the main character.

   • 1849, David Copperfield, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     나의 자서전이라고도 할 수 있는 이 이야기에서, 과연 내가 주인공인지, 아니면 다른 사람에게 주인공의 자리를 넘겼는지는 다음을 읽어보면 알게 될 것이다.

     naui jaseojeoniragodo hal su inneun i iyagieseo, gwayeon naega ju'in'gong'inji, animyeon dareun saramege ju'in'gong'ui jarireul neomgyeonneunjineun da'eumeul ilgeobomyeon alge doel geosida.

     Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.

     naui jaseojeoniragodo hal su inneun i iyagieseo, gwayeon naega ju'in'gong'inji, animyeon dareun saramege ju'in'gong'ui jarireul neomgyeonneunjineun da'eumeul ilgeobomyeon alge doel geosida.

     naui jaseojeoniragodo hal su inneun i iyagieseo, gwayeon naega ju in gon g inji, animyeon dareun saramege ju in gon g ui jarireul neomgyeonneunjineun da eumeul ilgeobomyeon alge doel geosida.

     Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (by extension) The central figure in any situation.

Antonyms

• 적대자(敵對者) (jeokdaeja, “antagonist”)